


unexpected side effects

by fouralarmfire



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: (no spoilers beyond s3), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death Fix, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Major Character Undeath, Reunions, Season/Series 03, been trying to make this fic make sense for 2 months but at some point u gotta give up, read if u miss sasha or want the NotThem to get knived i guess!, some angst & guilt bc it’s s3 tim pov but mostly just a lot of optimism on my part, this is a weird self-indulgent mix of ‘crack-adjacent revenge romp’ & ‘tearful reunion fluff’
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 10:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19271134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fouralarmfire/pseuds/fouralarmfire
Summary: In which Melanie drags Tim on an impromptu revenge mission that somehowdoesn’tend in complete disaster.(or: it’s a Sasha resurrection fic, baby!)





	unexpected side effects

**Author's Note:**

> Can’t believe I wrote a fic resurrecting Robert Montauk before I wrote a death fix for my girl Sasha, so here’s me rectifying that.
> 
>  **Content warnings** for Slaughter-typical knifing (description isn’t particularly graphic, but it does get pretty violent), some blood/gore, the NotThem (in its true form, so no impersonation-type creepiness but maybe some mild body horror), and some swearing, bc this is a team-up between the only characters to have been allowed an f-bomb on this show.

Standing in the tunnels below the Institute, looking at the very angry woman pointing a blood-soaked knife at him, Tim is sure of two things:

  1. He’s about to die.
  2. This is all, somehow, Jon’s fault.



 

**_2 hours earlier_ **

Tim glares down at the entrance to the tunnels. It’s not the most productive use of his time, but he can’t help himself.

Jon’s latest attempt at an apology had involved him finally telling Tim the full story surrounding Sasha’s death. Tim is not particularly keen on hearing anything Jon has to say these days, least of all _this_ , but he felt like he owed it to Sasha. It had taken him over half a year to notice she’d been replaced, the least he could do for her now was know exactly what had happened to her. It’s what she would do for him.

Anyway, that’s how he’d found out how the monster had been defeated. Or rather, _not_ defeated. Instead of the gruesome death he’d morbidly been hoping for, it turns out the monster is still down there, trapped behind some brick slabs.

He’s not sure if he should be doing anything about it. Not sure if there’s even anything he could be doing about it. Still. He keeps coming back to the entrance to the tunnels, drawn to it like it’s a sore tooth he can’t help but prod.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching. He braces himself for another argument with Jon, maybe some new attempt from Martin to get them to all be friends again.

Instead –

 “What are you staring at?”

– Melanie.

“None of your business,” he replies.

“Right, ‘cause that line always works.”

Tim finally looks away from the trapdoor and finds her standing next to him, arms crossed, an expectant look on her face. He sighs. “That… _thing_ is still down there. Don’t know if Jon shared that with you.”

“That thing?”

“The thing that took Sasha.”

“Oh,” Melanie says softly.

“Yeah.”

“He didn’t mention that. I guess I just assumed it was dead.”

“Yeah, me too. Guess life’s just full of disappointments.”

“Yeah,” Melanie agrees. There’s a beat as they both stare at the trapdoor, and Tim’s about to extract himself from this conversation, find some new quiet place to mope around in (hey, at least he can admit to himself that that’s what he’s doing), when she speaks up again.

“Actually, fuck that,” she says. Tim slowly turns back around to face her.

“That thing killed Sasha, made you guys believe it was her, made me think I was going crazy. It _should_ be dead.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to convince me, I _just_ said I was disappointed it wasn’t.”

“No,” Melanie says, raising her eyebrows suggestively, “I mean _it should be dead._ ”

“What,” Tim says, catching on, “are you trying to goad me into going down there to try and kill it?”

“Doesn’t have to be you,” she replies, reaching into the front pocket of her hoodie.

Tim’s not too proud to admit that he flinches back when she pulls out a knife. “What the _fuck_ , Melanie!”

She just shrugs, unperturbed. “I like to be prepared.”

“For _murder_?” he asks her incredulously.

“Hey, I’ve heard what you guys deal with here, okay? I just want to make sure that I can handle the flesh-eating worms, and the shapeshifters, and whatever other monsters decide they hate us next,” Melanie answers defensively. Tim has a feeling that’s not all, but he decides he probably shouldn’t call her on it while she’s still holding the knife.

“Speaking of monsters, I’m going after this one before it hurts anyone else,” Melanie continues, and before Tim has a chance to stop her, she opens the trapdoor and starts climbing down.

Tim debates looking for back-up, but she’ll be long gone by the time he gets back. He should probably make sure she doesn’t hurt herself, or something. He sighs and sends a quick, silent ‘fuck you’ out into the universe, for somehow burdening him with _multiple_ co-workers who think impulsively jumping into this tunnel is a good idea. He makes a solemn promise to himself that he’s definitely not doing this a third time, then turns on his phone’s torch function and climbs down after her.

Melanie turns around when he enters the tunnel, looking a little too smug that he’s followed her. To express his own feelings on the matter, he shines the light from his phone directly into her eyes, but she just grins at him and turns back around, taking off further into the tunnels.

Maybe he should be a little more worried about following a woman he hardly knows into an isolated location when she’s holding a giant knife, but… he really didn’t have any other plans today. Besides, Sasha, the real Sasha, had liked her, which tended to be enough for him. He remembers teasing her about the ridiculous amount of Ghost Hunt UK videos she’d watched during their lunch breaks, the weeks after Melanie had first come by. He joined her sometimes. The Melanie in the videos had seemed nice enough, funny. Determined. This place seems to have been doing a pretty good job so far at draining the humour out of her, but the determination is still there. He kind of admires her for it. It doesn’t necessarily seem to be improving her life, but at least she’s still trying to take matters into her own hands. Tim gave up on that a while back.

As they walk through the tunnels, he feels a lot less creeped out than he did during his trip down here with Martin back at the beginning of the year. Maybe he’s just too tired of it all to be properly scared, by this point. He does check for suspicious doors, though, since he’s not especially excited to relive that particular experience anytime soon.

He doesn’t find anything out of the ordinary, apart from the fact that this is a _mysterious underground tunnel system_ , and their walk is relatively uneventful. Every few minutes, Tim thinks he should maybe try to get Melanie to stop, turn around. He has no idea what direction they’re going in, and he can’t imagine she does, either. He’s pretty sure she wouldn’t listen, though. And really, what would be the point? They’d go back up there and then what? More moping, more waiting around until Jon decides it’s time to share some new information so they can maybe, finally, do something? He might as well go and try to see the monster’s makeshift prison cell for himself, maybe it’ll make him feel better, give him some sense of justice. He’ll figure out what to do with Melanie when they get there. _If_ they get there, which is seeming increasingly unlikely.

Tim is pulled out of his thoughts by a strange sound, a sort of knocking that repeats itself every few seconds. Melanie doesn’t seem to have noticed, is still walking forward, so he holds a hand out in front of her and motions for her to be silent with the other. She catches on and slows to a halt, straining her ears. It’s hard to tell what direction the thumps are coming from with the echoing quality the tunnels have, but Tim’s pretty sure it’s down a branch to their left. Melanie seems to come to the same conclusion and rushes further down the tunnel. He wants to reach out and stop her but she’s surprisingly fast for someone her height and he has to run to keep up.

He catches up to her as the thumping sound stops, and something clatters to the floor. There’s something wrong about the tunnel wall here, a protrusion disturbing its evenness. Lying on the floor in front of it is a discarded brick. Tim looks at the wall more closely and starts when he sees a small hole, hands with uncomfortably many joints emerging and pulling at the wall around it. As he watches, they manage to pry off several more bricks, and suddenly he’s looking into the face of the monster.

It hasn’t changed in the months since he and Martin followed it down into the tunnels, still looks like a thin, stretched out version of what Tim had thought to be Sasha. It notices him and bares its teeth in a grotesque smile, and he clenches his fists.

“Oh, hello Tim! How nice of you to come visit your old friend Sasha.”

Tim doesn’t even have time to get an angry response out before Melanie’s lashed out with her knife, stabbing the monster right in its elongated throat. Something like surprise comes over its features and Tim feels a dark sense of satisfaction at the pained sound it makes. The angle is clumsy, Melanie having to lean up over the remaining wall to reach her target. There’s a ferocity to her actions, though, and before long the monster falls down, head no longer attached to its body.

As soon as it collapses, Melanie tries to climb up the wall to reach where the monster had fallen down, and Tim grabs her arm to hold her back. With startling speed, she turns around and holds the knife to his chest.

“Woah, hey, Melanie, it’s me,” Tim says, taking a step back and holding up his hands in what he hopes is a calming gesture. “I’m pretty sure that thing’s dead now, so if you could _please_ put the knife down…”

There’s a second where she just stares at him, and he notices a red haze seems to have come over her eyes. He’s just trying to make peace with his own certain demise when she blinks, and seems to shake off whatever had gotten into her.

“Sorry, I… I got carried away,” she says, lowering the knife.

“You think?” he asks a little hysterically. Then, more gently, “You okay now?”

“I’m fine,” she says shortly. “Let’s just go back up.”

She turns around and starts walking away, but Tim can’t resist a quick look into the enclosure, just to be really, _really_ sure this time. He shines his torch in and grimaces at the grisly sight, then follows after Melanie.

Tim’s not sure how he feels, as they make their way back up to the surface. On one hand, he’s glad they stopped the monster from getting out. On the other, watching Melanie attack it like that was… more than a little disturbing. (Suggesting therapy to co-workers hasn’t worked out well here, historically, but he might have to give it a shot. Maybe he can get Basira to do it.)

Still, even with the violence… overall, a net positive, he thinks. If the monster follows even vaguely human rules for what can and can’t be survived, there’s no way it will ever be able to hurt anyone like it hurt Sasha. And if not… he makes a mental note to come back with some lighter fluid at some point, just in case. (If the fire were to spread to the Archives, well. Who is he to complain?)

They climb through the door, back into the mercifully still empty Archives. They both take a deep breath upon reaching the surface. Melanie’s earlier rage seems to have drained her, and she’s now tiredly studying her bloodied hands, still clasped around the even bloodier knife.

“I should… I should probably wash this,” she says.

Tim grimaces. “Probably, yeah.”

“Can you, I don’t know, cover me? To get to the kitchen, I mean?” Melanie asks.

Tim sighs. He was really looking forward to lying down right about now, but he supposes this is for the best. Spreading some rumours to scare people away from the Archives is all well and good, but getting arrested for his involvement in a stabbing rather less so. He doesn’t wish it on Melanie, either.

“Fine,” he concedes. “Can you at least put the knife back?”

“But I like this hoodie,” Melanie says, sounding rather put out at the thought of staining it.

“How’d you like a prison uniform?”

Melanie sighs, but does reluctantly put the knife into the front pocket again. She’s still looking a little more blood-spattered than he’d like, but he feels like they could get away with it, so he nods decisively and they walk out of the Archives and into the main hall of the Institute.  

They’ve almost completely traversed the main hall without interruption when a door creaks open. He turns to face it, trying to quickly formulate a plan to distract whoever opened it from Melanie’s appearance.

The charming grin he has ready for these sorts of situations slides off his face when he sees the woman who just walked out of Artefact Storage. Melanie, having frozen in place next to him, tenses up even further.

“Oh my God,” she says softly. “That’s her. Sasha, I mean. I only saw her the one time, but yeah. That’s- that’s her.”

Tim’s only half listening, though, still looking at the woman, at _Sasha_. He doesn’t need Melanie’s confirmation to know that it’s her. God, how could he have ever believed that impostor walking around the Archives? How could he have ever forgotten the face of his _best friend_?

His best friend, who is, despite all odds, currently standing a mere twenty feet away from him, holding her glasses (her _glasses_ ) up against the light for inspection, frowning at whatever she sees.

He rushes forward and wraps his arms around her in a tight hug. She lets out a sharp exhale when he collides with her, and he realises she might be feeling a little out of it, after whatever the hell she’s been through. When he loosens his grip, deciding to give her some more breathing room, her arms find their way around him, the glasses she’s still holding lightly poking his back. Her chin rests on his shoulder, and he instinctively tightens his arms around her, trying to drive out the memories of the few times he’d hugged the thing that wasn’t Sasha, how she’d never have been tall enough to even reach his shoulder.

“Good to see you, too,” Sasha says, and he can hear the laughter in her voice, knows she probably thinks he’s being a little overdramatic. He doesn’t mind, though. He much prefers her teasing over her absence.

When they finally lean away from each other, she notices the tears in his eyes and the smile slides off her face as she draws the wrong conclusion. “Oh God, did Jon and Martin not make it out?”

“Oh no, don’t worry, they’re fine,” he quickly reassures her, using the back of his hand to wipe at his eyes. “I saved their lives, obviously.”

She raises an eyebrow.

“ _We_ saved their lives,” he concedes.

“Don’t know what they’d do without us,” Sasha says, smiling fondly. “Wait, and Elias?”

“Yeah, he’s… he’s still alive, too,” Tim replies.

“For now,” Melanie mutters darkly.

“Sorry, what was that?” Sasha asks. As she turns away from Tim, she finally notices Melanie, squints at her until recognition dawns on her.

“Oh, hey Melanie,” she says. Thankfully her eyesight’s always been sub-optimal without the glasses, so the unobtrusive bulge in Melanie’s pocket where she’s hiding her bloody hands and knife goes unnoticed. “It’s been a while. Did you just give another statement?”

“No, I, um,” Melanie looks at Tim, a little helplessly. “I work here now.”

Sasha laughs. “Sure, I’m out for, what, half a day, and Elias has already hired someone else? That eager to replace me?”

The word “replace”’ makes Tim draw in a sharp breath, and Sasha shoots him a confused look.

“You were… um, you were gone for a year,” Melanie answers, drawing Sasha’s attention back to her.

“I- what?” Sasha asks, a little faintly. Tim puts a steadying arm around her, tells himself it’s not for his sake as much as hers.

“We should probably sit down somewhere, it’s kind of a long story.”

“No, I- I need to know,” she replies, steeling herself.

“Okay, um,” Tim starts, wondering how to best broach the subject. “Remember the Patel statement?”

“Oh my God,” Sasha says, “that _was_ what that thing was?”

“Depends on what you mean with ‘that thing’ but I’m… gonna assume the answer is ‘yes’,” Tim says.

“When I was hiding out from the worms on my way to the CO2 controls, I saw that table,” Sasha explains, “and then I think I saw someone? And I thought that’s maybe what it- I mean, I was afraid that- but I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up on the floor, so I figured I must’ve just fainted. I mean, wouldn’t be the first time someone’s done that in Artefact Storage.”

“It tends to have that effect on people,” Tim agrees weakly.

“But if it was the thing from the Patel statement then that means that I- that it-”

Sasha’s always been the most level-headed of them all but even she sounds distressed at the idea, and Tim is hit with another wave of guilt.

“I am _so_ sorry, Sasha, I should’ve known it wasn’t you, or I should have been more careful during the attack so you wouldn’t have had to go out there in the first place, or-”

“Tim,” Sasha interrupts him, “stop.” He looks back up to see her take a deep breath, composing herself. “You couldn’t have known, okay? We’re talking shapeshifting, reality-altering _monsters_ here. And I made a choice to try to save you guys, and I don’t care that it was dangerous, I’d do it again. Besides,” she shrugs, “I’m _fine_ now, so there’s really no use beating yourself up over this, okay?”

He can tell she’s still shaken up, is putting on a brave face for his benefit, but the complete lack of accusation he sees on her face is genuine. It’s enough to almost make him tear up again, but he decides if she can make herself appear calm about this, so can he.

“Okay,” he repeats, smiling tenuously at her.

“Good,” she says, smiling back brightly.

He’s sure the guilt’ll come back, but he’ll figure out how to deal with it, he’s not gonna put that on Sasha. Maybe he should find his own therapist before he suggests one to Melanie.

Wait. Melanie.

He looks away from Sasha to see that she’s still standing behind them, shuffling her feet.

“I’m... gonna head to the kitchen,” she says a little awkwardly when they both turn to look at her. Then, “Good to have you back, Sasha.”

“Good to be back,” she replies, amused. “See you around, Melanie.”

Melanie flashes them both one last smile, tucks a loose strand of short hair behind her ear. It’s a harmless nervous gesture, really, if not for-

“Is that _blood_?”

**Author's Note:**

>  **The NotThem, finally escaping the tunnels in s4:** oh boy, I can’t wait for the Unknowing!
> 
> Listen nobody ever said the NotThem victims aren’t still out there, somewhere! I mean, Leitner definitely did, but I’m choosing to ignore him. Also I know there was some talk about it probably being unkillable but if anyone could successfully do a murder it’d be a Slaughter avatar, right? I guess a Hunt avatar, too, maybe. But I figured being chosen as its, like, bonus victim gave Melanie some extra advantage. Oh also, since this justification is already pretty flimsy & I’m really just having fun with it, please assume the other NotThem victims also came back to where they disappeared from :) I always felt bad for Graham, he just seemed like a real stressed dude.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! You’re an angel! As always, feel free to hmu about any typos/grammatical errors :)


End file.
